Cardinals History: Mark Whiten Belts Four Homers in Game

Mark Whiten had been in a prodigious power slump heading into the St. Louis Cardinals doubleheader on this day in 1993. He broke out of his slump in a big way, belting four home runs and setting a record for RBI in a doubleheader.

It had been nearly four weeks since St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark Whiten had hit a home run. A burgeoning power hitter, Whiten had not hit a home run since August 11, when he took Blas Minor deep. However, as the Cardinals headed into a doubleheader with the Cincinnati Reds on this day in 1993, Whiten had yet to hit another home run.

The first game of the doubleheader did not give any indication that history would be forthcoming. Despite the high scoring 14-13 Cardinals loss, Whiten barely contributed. He was 0-4 with a walk, driving in a run and scoring once as well. It certainly did not appear as though he would break out of that power outage, given his production in Game One.

Game Two was a different story. Whiten got the scoring going early for the Cardinals, as he came up to the plate with the bases loaded and two out in the first. He took Larry Luebbers deep, belting a grand slam and giving the Cardinals an early lead. That home run alone would have made for a solid outing.

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However, Whiten was far from done. After popping out in the fourth inning, Whiten came to the plate with two men on and no outs in the sixth. He took Mike Anderson deep for his second homer of the game, and seventh RBI. He continued his offensive assault, hitting another three run homer against Anderson in the seventh. Then, facing Rob Dibble in the top of the ninth, Whiten belted a two run homer to become the 12th player in MLB history to hit four homers in a single game. Interestingly, Gerald Perry was on base for each of his homers.

That was not the only record that Whiten tied that day. His 12 RBI matched Jim Bottomley‘s record for 12 RBI in a game. With his RBI int he first game, Whiten also matched Nate Colbert‘s record with 13 RBI in a doubleheader.

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Mark Whiten had been in a power slump. On this day in 1993, the St. Louis Cardinals center fielder changed that in a big way.